|
Matthew
5:29, Bible (King James Version) "And
if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." -
attributed to the Master Mind Jesus (also refer to Mark 9:47)
For those who want to take the Bible
literally, this statement from the Book of Matthew attributed to the
Master Mind Jesus is harsh. But, as Dr. Robert Bitzer said often,
Jesus was a Master Metaphysician, this statement is not to be taken
literally, but discerned spiritually. First of all, we know
that anytime Jesus refers to the body, he is referring to the physical,
or that which takes place in the world. So, as we view this
statement as an instruction to act ... then we must ask, in what way are
we to act? Returning evil for evil will only create more of it.
But we must not be afraid to confront it. If it came to our
awareness, it came to us for a reason.
When Jesus spoke of evil he was not referring
to something that had power, but instead something that was attempting
to deny the Presence of G-d. And
in reality, evil is that which negates our ability to live fully in the
peace, harmony, prosperity, success, freedom and love that is present
for us. These are the effects of the Spirit when undisturbed by
negativity and discord ... that which contradicts these things. In
the evolutionary science of mind we do not deny that evil exists in the
world, but we realize that we must not "identify" with it, or
we will share in its consequences. And by evil, we do not mean the
devil or evil spirits ... that is all nonsense. I believe that it
is not enough for us to say that All is G-d and therefore All is Good,
when our eyes and ears can't possibly give us evidence that this is
fully the Truth. We must accept the Good knowing that ultimately
All is Good ... and we must reject the seeming evil. A wise
spiritual teacher wrote that, "blindness to
evil is a sin." Now, I wouldn't call it a sin, but I
would call it a mistake. If we saw our neighbor's house being
robbed, would we call the police, or refuse to see it as evil? If
we call the police, we do not identify with it ... we reject it.
The Radical Rabbi Jesus stated: "Do
you think that I have come to teach peace on earth? No,
I tell you, but rather division." In
other words, how can we have peace on earth unless we reject evil?
We cannot make peace with evil. The evil must be rejected and
eliminated by our love for the good. Reverend Ike taught that we
accept discord and disease into our lives because we fail to reject them
when they come to our awareness, or attention. Some will say that
they "know the truth" ... but if we knew the truth 100% of the
time then we would never be aware of evil, discord or disease. We
may see ourselves as "not of this world," but we are in the
world and we must separate the good from the evil if we are to
experience more of the good.
So much of what we see in the world as attempts to stop evil, is instead
hypocrisy attempting to disguise itself as morality. An excellent
example of this is our current debate on healthcare reform in the United
States. There are politicians who will not sign on to healthcare
reform if it provides for abortion medical procedures. They will
tell us that it contradicts their moral conviction and Christian
religious beliefs. But ...................... these same
politicians will not sign onto healthcare reform if it provides any care
for children of illegal immigrants! Some will say this is just
politics ... and if that is so, then politics is rife with evil!
Christian organizations send millions of dollars outside of the United
States to "save the children" ... but what about the children
of illegal immigrants that are right here in our own country?
Where is the Christian outpouring of support for them against these
politicians? Why do these Christians believe the life of an unborn
child is more important than the life of a child in our midst? Is
not the life of G-d breathing through both the legal and the illegal?
Our brother Jesus said:
"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these
my brothers, you did it to me." ... and "If
anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for
he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom
he has not seen."
"Resist not
evil," the Master Mind Jesus stated. What we resist,
persists. And often our blindness to evil will enable it. In
the early years of the AIDS epidemic, the words
"SILENCE=DEATH" made a lot of people wake up to a greater
accountability to speak up for those who needed their help. Our
silence, too often, implies agreement with those who would do evil. There
must not be any passivity towards evil. The Good will always reign
supreme, but we must affirm the Good, live for the Good, and let G-d
work through us for the greater good. We must be willing to
"cause division" as the Radical Rabbi Jesus did ... to reject
that which denies the Divine in anyone or in anything. If we
don't, we give it our agreement ... and if we agree with it, we will
experience it for ourselves, in some way.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
|
Rev
Bates on the Radio
